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Tecumseh’s descendants visit Springfield for Caesar’s Ford Theatre event

Descendants of Shawnee chief Tecumseh sit in chairs at the front of a room.
Adriana Martinez-Smiley
/
WYSO
Descendants of renowned Shawnee chief Tecumseh traveled from across the U.S. for a memorial day event for the leader on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.

American Indian-led arts nonprofit Caesar’s Ford Theatre hosted several Shawnee tribal citizens at the Springfield Museum of Art Sunday for an event honoring Shawnee chief Tecumseh. The gathering took place a few miles away from his reputed birthplace.

Curious neighbors filled the room to the brim to hear from some of Tecumseh’s descendants who wanted to dispel misconceptions about their ancestor and tribe.

Tecumtheth, not Tecumseh

Tecumseh Memorial Day, as recognized by the Shawnee Tribe, lands on Oct. 5, the day he’d fallen at the Battle of the Thames in 1813.

To start the event, CFT leaders said they wanted to clarify something: a more accurate anglicization of Tecumseh’s name is Tecumtheth. That’s based on the phonemes of the Shawnee language.

“I would hope that that name takes off and more people start really acknowledging his real name and using it when talking about him,” said Jeremy Turner, enrolled Shawnee citizen.

Tecumtheth’s blood runs through their veins

Caesar’s Ford Theatre's mission is to tell historically accurate stories with actors who are citizens of federally recognized tribes. But their programming also expands to education.

CFT, along with the Springfield Foundation, helped finance the visit for members of Ohio’s historic tribal communities. Shawnee citizens that can trace their lineage to Tecumtheth led a panel discussion at the event. Among those was Eric Wensman.

“We as descendants of these people here try our best to hang on to what little we have left,” said Wensman, 61, who spoke about his experience growing up surrounded by a family who clung to the Shawnee language despite many of them going to boarding schools.

He also shared their hopes to return to the Ohio River Valley.

“I remember them sitting around, grandfather, grandmother… they all talked about moving back to Ohio. Because they had ancestors, grandmas, grandpas that come from here,” Wensman explained.

“Now I don't think any of them ever got to make it here, ever seen the place, but it was a thought.”

For Wensman, that thought comes full circle.

“It's a beautiful place, you know. And I thank you all for taking care of our home," he said. "I wish we could move back, but then that means we would have to leave our people again."

Another panelist and enrolled Shawnee citizen, Brittany Hall, connected with Wensman over social media a decade ago, only to discover they were related. It was in an effort to connect to her Shawnee culture because she was adopted by non-natives when she was six.

I realized ‘Oh, I have a family member’ and then throughout the years my son and I got to meet more, not only more tribal members, but family members and their family and, with that I had this sense of belonging,” Hall said.

Their connection to Tecumtheth made their visit to Springfield all the more meaningful, she said.

“I think that's the beautiful thing about our ancestors is that their blood runs through our veins. They are still with us and I know from my spiritual connections that they're always with us.”

Pekawi, not Oldtown

The location of the event was intentional. A historian, Turner worked with the Greene County Historical Society and others to locate documents that corroborate one detail: Tecumtheth was born in the village of Pekawi near George Rogers Clark Park. The best proof of this is in the papers of Stephen Ruddell, Tecumtheth’s adopted brother.

George Rogers Clark Park has a historical marker recognizing Tecumseh was born in the area
Caesar's Ford Theatre
/
Facebook
George Rogers Clark Park has a historical marker recognizing Tecumseh was born in the area

This pushed back on the local notion that he was born near Xenia in Oldtown, which was one of the iterations of the Shawnee village Chillicothe.

“It was important to us to make sure that we were not promoting that myth and that falsehood,” Turner said.

When thinking about Tecumtheth as a leader, he wasn’t physically imposing, said Turner. But real warriors like Tecumtheth do have something no one else has.

"The ability to lead under fire and not lose their cool when everybody else is scared and cowering or dropping their weapons," Turner said. "They command the rest of the folks around them. They are the strength that everyone else looks toward to find their own courage inside of them. That was Tecumtheth.”

Turner will be holding an event at Clifton Gorge on Thursday, Oct. 16 to share the Shawnee history of hunting and trapping and its role in the 18th century global economy.

Adriana Martinez-Smiley (she/they) is the Environment and Indigenous Affairs Reporter for WYSO.